Kelly — a BIG Sushi fan — lives in Canmore.
His favourite restaurant in Banff is Hello Sunshine Sushi during Happy Hour.
50% off many Sushi platters.
As well as beer and other menu item specials.
I’m hoping to go 3 times this week. 😀
Kelly introduced me to Hello Sunshine after a GREAT day skiing powder at … Sunshine.
Every tourist enjoys Vancouver Island. Much to do. Much to see.
Here’s a good starting point for someone planning to visit our area, north of Nanaimo.
One thing I like about bike touring is that almost ANYBODY could do it.
Almost ANYBODY can ride a bike.
For example, Giant Cheerio decided to take off on a bike for a month. …
After over 2 years, she’s still on the road.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Due to the pandemic, I hadn’t made it back to Port Townsend, Washington since 2019.
Since then, Doug and Diana had built a new house on one of their properties.
I was both 3rd and 4th in the guestbook, visiting both going to and coming from Coeur d’Alene.
Carrie came up from Vancouver WA to videotape a chat with myself and Doug about the start of the Tumbl Trak Ambassador Program. Actually, she drove MANY hours in the dark and rain to pick me up in Port Angeles.
I was the first Ambassador, we think, when Doug gave me an inflatable tumbling mat to take to my Gymnastics tour of Australia in 2007. I did clinics in 5 different States.
The other BIG news of my visit was that Diana was getting packed for a trip to Europe with a friend.
Also — Doug bought a new car. A Nissan Leaf.
It was my fault. I took the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton WA by mistake — and there happened to be a Nissan dealership there. 😀
As always in Port Townsend, we enjoyed some terrific meals.
My favourite was Finistère.
As always, I got out running and hiking.
This is dawn down close to Fort Worden.
If you’ve never been, Port Townsend is a tourist gem hidden away off the main highway in northern Washington State.
For 2024 I’m still using a paid version of Komoot for Bike Touring / Bikepacking.
Other sports included are Running, Hiking, Mountain Biking and Road Cycling.
Currently I’m still using a paid version of AllTrails for Hiking.
Komoot uses OpenStreetMap.
It has an Apple Watch app assistant.
Click PLAY or see how it works on YouTube.
I do like being a tourist close to Pike Place Market in Seattle.
The original Starbucks opened here in 1971.
Downtown Seattle is a little grungy. That makes it more interesting.
I normally stay at a Green Tortoise Hostel right by the Market.
One night they offered all you can eat Mexican.
Next night, Green Tortoise offered all you can drink local wine.
Ivar’s is a Washington State institution.
I had several meals there looking over the port.
AND here’s where you drop off your gum when finished chewing. 😀
Once again I had a terrific time in Coeur d’Alene.
Our first day, we joined in the FUN at Dave’s gourmet restaurant, Candle in the Woods.
An amazing, unforgettable meal.
Timing of this visit was to volunteer at my favourite Gymnastics competition in the world — the Great West Gym Fest.
It’s so well organized I didn’t really have much to do.
I DID help with the set-up and take-down of the Gym. And made a few VIDEOS of the competition, including this one.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
A few photos from the competition.
VIPs get to check out the resort penthouse. And balcony hot tub.
We did get out for one hike in Farragut State Park.
Delaney took me climbing. AND I was not bad … aside from then time I fell from the top risking concussion. 😀
Late February the weather was … mixed. We had some wind, some snow. Some sun.
I did get to try Dave’s Fat Bike out on their property.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The Isar, 295 km long, flows through Munich.
I spent a lot of time last summer cycling this river.
One highlight is surfing a standing wave (a stationary hydraulic jump).
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
That’s in the English Garden (Englischer Garten), one of the world’s largest urban public parks.
On sunny days, it’s packed with tens of thousands.
I’m planning on cycling Iceland late summer 2024.
This would be the ultimate … — … AND I won’t be doing anything this challenging. 😀
Riders Chris Burkard, Eric Batty, Emily Batty, and Adam Morka.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
In 2024 — I have to call myself an experienced Bikepacker.
Any trip where you carry enough gear to allow sleeping overnight … somewhere. Even a motel.
A multi-day cycling trip.
For me it was a natural extension of hiking. Fun, enjoyable, exercise outdoors.
Low cost.
I enjoy tenting. So that’s a bonus for me.
Joe Cruz posted a terrific History of Bikepacking article.
People have been cycling overnight trips since the invention of the bicycle.
It’s astonishing to me how little bicycle technology has evolved.
Here’s Frank Lenz, who famously went missing during his circumnavigation of the globe, which he started in 1892.
Rick McCharles 